The Phillies claimed Rule 5 draftee Tim Lahey off waivers. Lahey had been waived by the Cubs after being taken first in the Rule 5 draft. This was BA’s assessment of Lahey back in December

Lahey was a catcher at Princeton, then converted to the mound when the Twins drafted him. He has a short, catcher-like arm action, but he throws strikes with his 90-92 mph fastball, one that has touched 95 according to Cubs officials, and the delivery adds some deception. A 20th-round pick in 2004 by the Twins, Lahey also throws a solid-average slider and a changeup. The Cubs see room for improvement, since Lahey is still relatively new to pitching.

“He’s got real good sink with a ground ball ratio of almost 3-to-1 and the makings of a pretty good slider,” Cubs farm director Oneri Fleita said. “It’s amazing—I think he has 178, 179 innings and has less than a hit per inning pitched. That’s pretty good for a guy who just got converted. We’re excited to see him.

So, here’s how this works, to my knowledge. The Rule 5 process still applies. Lahey must go straight onto the 25 man roster and must remain there all season. The Phillies were able to get JD Durbin through waivers and to AAA, so thats one less obstacle. If Lahey can’t stick, he will be placed on waivers. If no one claims him, he has to be offered back to Minnesota. If Minnesota refuses to take him back for $25K, we can outright him to AAA. I don’t really see how he will fit into the team, but then again, any new warm body is probably better than a bunch of the old warm bodies, so stay tuned.